Osteoarthritis Treatment near Leamington Spa
Osteoarthritis is a condition that many people in the UK suffer with. It is a condition that becomes more prominent as we age and is often known as a wear and tear condition.
But what exactly is Osteoarthritis and what can our clinic near Leamington Spa do to to help you with your Osteoarthritis Treatment?
What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis takes time to occur, is caused by damage to the cartilage of a joint. The cartilage, over time, gets damaged and creates pain. Any weight bearing joint can suffer from Osteoarthritis, but it is commonly found in knees and hips specifically.
Osteoarthritis generally occurs, due to the incorrect loading of a joint. Often the cause of the issue is found far away from the joint that actually hurts. Flat feet, with low arches, can often create problems in the knee or hip over time.
This is because the foot needs to have an arch. The arch of the foot absorbs forces when we walk and ensures those same forces travel correctly up the lower body. If you have a foot that drops inwards, due to weak or flat feet this can cause your knee to also drop inwards. In turn, this makes the forces that travel up through your leg run in a different position, often loading the inside of the knee. Over time, these forces create damage the cartilage of the knee, which in the end caises there to be pain, especially when walking.
The cartilage around joints is there to stop the bones rubbing together, if this becomes damaged, the bones can rub on one another and this can create damage, pain and the beginnings of Osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis Treatment near Leamington Spa
The knee is a common area for people to experience Osteoarthritis. It is important for our knees to remain in a healthy alignment, however, for many of us, our knee does not track correctly. As a result the forces created while you are walk, go through the wrong part of your knee.
When we examine a client with Knee Osteoarthritis, we will often start by assessing the foot. If we find that the foot is weak, rather than using an orthotic, we would start by strengthening the muscles of the foot that support the arch. In many cases just strengthening the foot is enough to get rid of the pain in the Knee, but if this doesn’t work, we will strengthen and rebalance the whole leg.
Our approach to Osteoarthritis treatment, is to combine the strengthening work with hands on massage to loosen the tight muscles. Helping the muscles to switch off and relax is very important when trying to realign a joint. This is also a very successful way to reduce the pain in the area while the muscles strengthen up to provide long term relief.
One example of this is the over recruitment of the hamstring muscles, in someone with Knee Osteoarthritis. The Hamstrings often over work to stop the person fully straightening their knee when they walk. This is because when the knee is fully straightened the joint space closes up, creating pain. As a result the muscles on the back of the legs, the hamstrings, get very tight.
By loosening these muscles, we not only help to relieve pain, but also to rebalance the leg and allow it to straighten fully again. We will often know when the situation is improving, as these muscles will start to relax. As they start to relax, we know that the body is happy to fully straighten the knee again.
It is very important to look at the whole lower body, in order to get a long term resolution to Osteoarthritic pain. The foot affects the knee, the knee affects the hip. So just looking at the single joint will not solve pain and problems. At The Reinge Clinic, we take a holistic look at your body to get to the root causes, allowing is us a much better chance to solve your painful condition.
Severe Osteoarthritis Treatment
Once the cartilage has worn away to such a level that the bone is effectively resting on bone, traditional treatments, in the form of strengthening become more limited.
Generally at this point, strengthening work has simply become too painful to complete and mobility is becoming very difficult or impossible to perform. Until now, the only realistic Osteoarthritis treatment option has been a knee or hip replacement, but this is a major operation and comes with a long recovery time and isn’t risk free. Recently NICE have approved an alternative treatment for people with severe osteoarthritis and we are the first clinic in Warwickshire to have been trained in their use.
This treatment option is known as the Apos® training shoe, and in simple terms, it realigns and strengthens the leg while you walk. This clever shoe works by altering the forces running through your leg, it allows us to offload painful areas and at the same time restrengthen the leg. All the time, the client isn’t in pain, so it is both possible and desirable to go out for a walk again.
This is not an orthotic based treatment, as orthotics are generally only used to support the foot in a new position. This treatment is far more sophisticated, it doesn’t support the foot, but rather retrains the whole leg it to get long term solutions. Find out more about this option by clicking this link.
If you decide that Surgery is the best option for you, the outcomes depend partially on your surgeon and partially on your rehabilitation. most of the time clients have no problem with the surgical element, but when it comes to rehabilitation following surgery, this can often be limited. At The Reinge Clinic, we offer a comprehensive approach to knee and hip surgery rehabilitation, providing appropriate hands on work, to relieve the post surgical stiffness and well as helping to get the initial movement back in the knee or hip.
Once we have full movement, we are then able to include targeted strengthening work to build you from the initial basic bending and straightening moves, to fully loading and more dynamic strength work. We can even get you back to hiking, running and sports with your new knee. This does take time and it is not unusual to take 6 months to a year to recover from a Knee or hip replacement.
Frequently Asked Questions about Osteoarthritis Treatment in Leamington Spa
We have many clients who have moderate or even severe Osteoarthritis who are able to manage their condition with regular rehabilitation, strength and loosening work.
If exercise isn’t for you the Apos training shoe may be an alternative worth thinking about.
The treatment for Osteoarthritis always involves strength work, even of you opt for a surgical procedure.
For clients with mild Osteoarthritis, surgery is rarely needed. Strength and hands on techniques usually solve the pain and help to limit future damage within the knee.
Take a look at the NHS page for Osteoarthritis here.
The main signs are generally pain, swelling, stiffness. A grinding or crunching noise when bending the knee or hip.
Pain is usually there when weight bearing as this is when the bones sit closest together. It often eases when non load bearing.
In the case of Knee Osteoperosis, the legs tend to bow out, giving a distinctive walking gait.
However a full assessment and usually an MRI scan is needed to diagnose Osteoarthritis.
Both disciplines can treat Osteoarthritis. Sports Therapists are more likely to use hands on techniques in their treatments, but from an assessment and rehabilitation perspective there is little between the two professions.
For initial post surgical rehab a Physiotherapist is the best solution as they have experience working in hospitals with immediate post operative procedures. But after around 12 weeks a Sports therapist is able to offer Osteoarthritis treatment to the same level.
At The Reinge Clinic our Physiotherapist is also a trained Sports Therapist. Both our Physiotherapist and our Sports Therapist are APOS Therapy trained, meaning they have additional training and knowledge in treating Osteoarthritis.
If you have no, or low pain with your arthritis, it is best to stay as active as possible. If you have pain, you need to avoid the activities that exacerbate the pain.
Running, for example, can exacerbate Osteoarthritic pain in the knee or hip. However, sometimes by altering the running gait, or with rehabilitation work, we can ensure you can continue with the sport or activity that you love.
Generally load bearing activities with heavy weights exacerbate pain, whereas swimming, for example, can be a great way to exercise without creating pain the the joints.
We will always advise on the best and safest way to keep you active, while trying to resolve your pain.
Learn more about Osteoarthritis
What Our Clients Say About Us?
Helen Littlewood
October 19, 2022
Totally looked after by Ian - really reassured that he can help and support me in my goals Thank you
Hilary Hardwick
November 4, 2022
My first appointment with Ian and very impressed, I may finally get somewhere with my dodgy hip
Fiona Robinson
November 21, 2022
Really nice experience ( apart from elbow in hip…ouch)
Matt Morrisey
December 8, 2022
EXCELLENT , HELPED ME UNDERSTAND ALL MY ISSUES AND HOW TO START TO RE AJUST
Sonia Chamberlain
September 5, 2023
Gina is a brilliant therapist! Very friendly, supportive and provides a holistic approach to MSK problems.
